Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Summer Reading Bookfair

We're trying a new approach this year to summer reading. Based on a model used by other independent schools and shared with us by Woodberry Forest, here's how it works. Students will attend a book fair today in the Beaver Student Center to browse the books offered by sponsoring faculty. Each participating faculty member has chosen a favorite book for summer reading. Students will sign up with the teacher to read that book over the summer, and maybe share reactions through blogs or email. When school opens again in August we will have a series of social evenings during which a group of students will meet with the teacher to wrap up discussion of their book.

This year's choices include fiction and non-fiction, old and new titles, long and short, ranging from John Steinbeck's classic The Pearl to Michael Pollan's recent The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Here's a list of the available choices and their faculty sponsors:

The Omnivore's Dilemma: a Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan (sponsor Kirk Brown)

The Pearl, John Steinbeck (Vance Brown)

Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card (Dan Chase)

In the Heart of the Sea: the Tragedy of the Whaleship "Essex," Nathaniel Philbrick (Erich Cluxton)

Lady on the Hill (the story of the Cecil family and the Biltmore House), Howard E. Covington, Jr. (Scott Greene)